A Brief Guide to the Airborne Wind Turbine Market

Last month, Bloomberg published a less-than-flattering review of progress at Makani, an energy kite concept being developed by Alphabet, Google’s parent, in its X incubator arm.

Sources at X told GTM the Bloomberg report was inaccurate and did not reflect the present status of the project. Alphabet remains fully committed to Makani, they said.

Elsewhere, though, slow progress at airborne wind turbine startups is a testimony to the challenges associated with harvesting the strong, steady winds high above the ground. For the uninitiated, here is a rundown of some of the main contenders.